System and method for multiple surface water jet needling

ABSTRACT

A water entanglement system having a first rotatable surface comprises a first water jet which may be configured to water-entangle a preform in situ. The water-entanglement system may comprise a second rotatable surface disposed proximate the first rotatable surface. The second rotatable surface may comprise a second water jet configured to water-entangle the preform in situ. The first rotatable surface may be oriented substantially parallel to the second rotatable surface.

FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to the needling of a fabric utilizingwater jets.

BACKGROUND

Carbon/carbon (“C/C”) parts are employed in various industries. C/Cparts may be used as friction disks such as aircraft brake disks, racecar brake disks, clutch disks, and the like. C/C brake disks areespecially useful in such applications because of the superior hightemperature characteristics of C/C material. In particular, the C/Cmaterial used in C/C parts is a good conductor of heat and thus is ableto dissipate heat away from the braking surfaces that is generated inresponse to braking. C/C material is also highly resistant to heatdamage, and is thus capable of sustaining friction between brakesurfaces during severe braking, without a significant reduction in thefriction coefficient or mechanical failure. Compared to other materialsused for aircraft brakes, C/C composites offer significant weightsavings.

SUMMARY

According to various embodiments, a water-entanglement system isdescribed herein. The water-entanglement system may comprise a firstrotatable surface. The first rotatable surface comprises a first waterjet which may be configured to water-entangle a preform in situ. Thewater-entanglement system may comprise a second rotatable surfacedisposed proximate the first rotatable surface. The second rotatablesurface may comprise a second water jet configured to water-entangle thepreform in situ. The first rotatable surface may be orientedsubstantially parallel to the second rotatable surface.

The first water jet may be oriented towards the second rotatablesurface. The second water jet may be oriented towards the firstrotatable surface. The first rotatable surface and the second rotatablesurface may bound a gap. The first rotatable surface and the secondrotatable surface may bound the gap so that the gap is configured toincrease as the preform expands in at least one of the positive and thenegative Z direction.

The first rotatable surface and the second rotatable surface may beconfigured to rotate about a common axis substantially in unison. Thepreform may be an annular preform comprising of a plurality of layers.The water-entanglement system may comprise a first fabric source and asecond fabric source. A first fabric from the first fabric source and asecond fabric from the second fabric source may be combined to form thepreform.

According to various embodiments, a water-entanglement system having ahousing, a first rotatable surface disposed with the housing and asecond rotatable surface disposed with the housing proximate the firstrotatable surface is described herein. The first rotatable surface maycomprise a first water jet configured to water-entangle a preform insitu. The second rotatable surface may be disposed with the housingproximate the first rotatable surface. The second rotatable surface maycomprise a second water jet configured to water-entangle the preform insitu. The first rotatable surface may be oriented substantially parallelto the second rotatable surface.

According to various embodiments, a water-entanglement method comprisingfeeding a substantially continuous spiral fabric to a space defined by afirst rotatable surface comprising a first water jet and a secondrotatable surface comprising a second water jet. The method furthercomprises, growing a preform based on the feed of substantiallycontinuous spiral fabric. Water is imparted to a surface of a preformfrom at least one of the first water jet or the second water jet,wherein the water entangles the preform.

In various embodiments, the water-entanglement method includes receivingthe continuous spiral fabric from a first fabric source and a secondfabric source. The first fabric source is at least one of a carbon fiberspiral manufacturing source or a helical fabric manufacturing source.Also, the second fabric source is at least one of a carbon fiber spiralmanufacturing source or a helical fabric manufacturing source. Invarious embodiments, the water is fed during the formation of thepreform and the water entangles the preform in situ.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure may be better understood with reference to thefollowing drawing figures and description. Non-limiting andnon-exhaustive descriptions are described with reference to thefollowing drawing figures. The components in the figures are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustratingprinciples. In the figures, like referenced numerals may refer to likeparts throughout the different figures unless otherwise specified.Further, because the disclosed fibers, tows and yarns (and theirorientations) in practice are very small and closely packed, the figuresherein may show exaggerated and/or idealized fiber width and spacing inorder to more clearly illustrate the fiber orientations and shape of thebundles.

FIG. 1 illustrates a side cross-sectional view of a water-entanglementsystem according to various embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an isometric view of a water-entanglement systemaccording to various embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a side cross-sectional view of a water-entanglementsystem having an enclosing housing according to various embodiments; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a water-entanglement process having an enclosinghousing according to various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of various embodiments herein makes referenceto the accompanying drawing figures, which show various embodiments andimplementations thereof by way of illustration and its best mode, andnot of limitation. While these embodiments are described in sufficientdetail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments,it should be understood that other embodiments may be realized and thatlogical and mechanical changes may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the disclosure. Furthermore, any reference tosingular includes plural embodiments, and any reference to more than onecomponent or step may include a singular embodiment or step.

Also, any reference to attached, fixed, connected or the like mayinclude permanent, removable, temporary, partial, full and/or any otherpossible attachment option. Additionally, any reference to withoutcontact (or similar phrases) may also include reduced contact or minimalcontact. Finally, though the various embodiments discussed herein may becarried out in the context of an aircraft, it should be understood thatsystems and methods disclosed herein may be incorporated into anythingneeding a brake or having a wheel, or into any vehicle such as, forexample, an aircraft, a train, a bus, an automobile and the like.

C/C material is generally formed by utilizing continuous oxidizedpolyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers, referred to as “OPF” fibers. Such OPFfibers are the precursors of carbonized PAN fibers and are used tofabricate a preformed shape using a needle punching process. It iscommon in brake manufacturing to layer OPF fibers in a selectedorientation into a preform of a selected geometry. Two or more layers offibers may be layered onto a support and are then needled togethersimultaneously or in a series of needling steps. This processinterconnects the horizontal fibers with a third direction (also calledthe z-direction). The fibers extending into the third direction are alsocalled z-fibers. This needling process may involve driving a multitudeof barbed needles into the fibrous layers to displace a portion of thehorizontal fibers into the z-direction.

As used herein, the terms “tow” and “cable” are used to refer to one ormore strands of substantially continuous filaments. Thus, a “tow” or“cable” may refer to a plurality of strands of substantially continuousfilaments or a single strand of substantially continuous filament.“Fiber bundle” may refer to a tow of substantially continuous filaments.“Fiber bundle” may also refer to various formats of narrow strips ofstretch broken fibers. “Spiral” fabric may also be referred to herein as“helical” fabric. A “textile” may be referred to as a “fabric” or a“tape.” A “loom” may refer to any weaving device, such as a narrowfabric needle loom.

As used herein, the term “ribbon” is used to refer to a closely packedbundle of continuous filaments and discontinuous filaments such asstretch broken fibers generally delivered from a spool. A “span” as usedherein may be a length of ribbon and/or tow. As used herein, the term“yarn” is used to refer to a strand of substantially continuous fibersor staple fibers or blends of these, thus the term “yarn” encompassestow and cable. As used herein, the unit “K” represents “thousand.” Thus,a 1K tow means a tow comprising about 1,000 strands of substantiallycontinuous filaments. For example, a “heavy tow” may comprise about48,000 (48K) or more textile fibers in a single tow, whereas a “mediumtow” may comprise about 24,000 (24K) textile fibers within a single towwhereas a “lighter tow” may comprise about 6,000 (6K) or fewer textilefibers within a single tow. Fewer or greater amounts of textile fibersmay be used per cable in various embodiments. In various embodimentsdisclosed herein, fabrics in accordance with various embodiments maycomprise tows of from about 0.1K to about 100K, and, in variousembodiments, heavier tows. As is understood, “warp” fibers are fibersthat lie in the “warp” direction in the textile, i.e., along the lengthof the textile. “Weft” fibers are fibers that lie in the “weft”direction in the textile, i.e., along the width of the textile. Warpfibers may be described as being spaced apart with respect to the weftdirection (i.e., spaced apart between the outer diameter (OD) and innerdiameter (ID) of the textile). Similarly, the weft tows may be describedas being spaced apart with respect to the warp direction.

As previously mentioned, commercial carbon fiber tows are typicallypackaged in the form of a flat ribbon onto spools, such as cardboardspools. Annular preforms may be used in aircraft brake needled preforms.Potential feed textiles used in fabrication of annular needled preformssuch as continuous helical fabrics are typically fabricated usingtake-off systems to pull the fabric and tows through the weaving loom.These fabrics, with localized high fiber volume fiber bundles, are oftensubject to a high level of needling to fabricate a carbon preform with alow fiber volume, such as for the manufacturing of carbon-carbonfriction disks. One efficient approach to fabricate an annular needledpreform is to directly introduce a portion of or all the fibers in theform of tows fed directly to the needle punching loom. Approaches todirectly feed carbon fiber tows into a circular needle punching loom aredescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,185,404.

Needling carbon fiber is difficult using standard non-woven needlingprocesses due to the low elongation associated with causing carbonfibers to break, thus potentially causing damage that occurs duringneedling. Water-jet or water-entanglement may be utilized to create anon-woven carbon fiber preform using carbon fiber as opposed to oxidizedPAN. According to various embodiments, water entanglement from multiplesurfaces, such as a top surface and a bottom surface of a preform as itaccumulates layers in the Z direction, is disclosed herein. In this way,the non-woven preform may maintain a substantially uniform constructionand be produced quickly.

According to various embodiments, the proposed method involves feedingtwo sources of substantially continuous spiral fabric in between a pairof rotating substantially parallel plates. The parallel plates containholes, such as water jets, from which water may be configured to be fedand imparted onto one or more surface of a preform. This water may befed during the formation of the preform, such as in concert with carbonfiber spiral fabric entering and being “laid down” in the gap betweenthe parallel plates. In this way, the growing layers of provided spiralfabric may be subsequently substantially and/or continuously entangledusing water jets.

According to various embodiments, a reduced manufacturing cycle time maybe achieved as compared with physical needle needling processes. Areduction in mechanical damage to the spiral fabric may be achieved ascompared to typical non-woven needling processes. Additionally,according to various embodiments, the needling zone may be fed directlyfrom a carbon fiber spiral manufacturing source and/or helical fabricmanufacturing source.

According to various embodiments and with reference to FIG. 1, awater-entanglement system 100 is configured to facilitatewater-entanglement via water jets, such as water jets 10, 20, and 30 ofa first rotating water-entanglement plate 50 and water jets 40, 70, and80 of a second water-entanglement plate 60, of a preform 115 in multipledirections such as from a top surface and a bottom surface (in the Zdirection). In this way, water needling may be performed on a preform115 as it is expanding in the Z direction as layers are being formed ona top surface (e.g., in situ), such as the surface proximate surface 140in the negative Z direction and a bottom surface of the preform 115,such as a surface proximate surface 110. The first rotatingwater-entanglement plate 50 and the second water-entanglement plate 60may be located in close proximity. The first rotating water-entanglementplate 50 and the second water-entanglement plate 60 may bound gap 55.The first rotating water-entanglement plate 50 and the secondwater-entanglement plate 60 may be oriented substantially parallel toeach other. The first rotating water-entanglement plate 50 and thesecond water-entanglement plate 60 may be configured to rotate around acommon axis, such as axis A-A′. The first water jets 10, 20, and 30 maybe oriented towards the second water-entanglement plate 60. The secondwater jets, 40, 70, and 80 may be oriented towards the secondwater-entanglement plate 60.

According to various embodiments, layers of preform 115 may be stackedin two directions while needling with water entanglement via water jets10, 20, 30, 40, 70, and 80. In this way, the thickness (e.g., thedistance from a top surface proximate surface 140 to a bottom surfaceproximate surface 110) of the preform 115 may be increased from both atop surface in the Z direction and a bottom surface in the Z directionwith a water jet entangling and/or needling the material at the sametime as the layers are being added to the base layer.

According to various embodiments and with reference to FIG. 2, a pair ofrotatable surfaces may be oriented in close proximity. The firstrotatable surface, such as first rotating water-entanglement plate 250,may face the second rotatable surface, such as second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 260. First rotating water-entanglement plate250 and second rotating water-entanglement plate 260 may be configuredto rotate substantially in unison. A first loose feed 215 of helicalfabric may be fed from a spool 230 or directly from a spiral fabricweaving machine (e.g., first fabric source) into the gap 255 bounded byfirst rotating water-entanglement plate 250 and second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 260. First loose feed 215 of helical fabricand/or second loose feed 235 of helical fabric may comprise a pre-wovenunidirectional helical fabric of any desired length. For example, firstloose feed 215 of helical fabric and/or second loose feed 235 may eachbe half the length associated with a final preform dimension. Statedanother way, first loose feed 215 of helical fabric and second loosefeed 235 of helical fabric may be combined to form the final preform. Asecond loose feed 235 of helical fabric may be fed from a spool 275(e.g., second fabric source) into the gap 255 bounded by first rotatingwater-entanglement plate 250 and second rotating water-entanglementplate 260.

First rotating water-entanglement plate 250 may be configured to have aplurality of water jets 290 disposed on its surface. The plurality ofwater jets 290 may be positioned on any desired location of firstrotating water-entanglement plate 250 or second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 260. According to various embodiments, thewater jets 290 may be located radially across the face of the firstrotating water-entanglement plate 250 and/or second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 260 to substantially cover the first rotatingwater-entanglement plate 250 or second rotating water-entanglement plate260 with between about a 2 to 10 diameter hole distance separating anytwo adjacent water jets 290, wherein the term “about” in this contextonly means +/−1 diameter hole. According to various embodiments, thewater jets 290 may be located radially across the face of the firstrotating water-entanglement plate 250 and/or second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 260 to substantially cover a subsection of thefirst rotating water-entanglement plate 250 or second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 260 with between about a 2 to 10 diameter holedistance separating water jets 290, wherein the term “about” in thiscontext only means +/−1 diameter hole. The subsection may comprise awedge of the first rotating water-entanglement plate 250 and/or secondrotating water-entanglement plate 260 and/or any geometric ornon-geometric shape or shapes. Water jets 290 may be disposed in anordered or random pattern radially across the face of the first rotatingwater-entanglement plate 250 and/or second rotating water-entanglementplate 260 such that water jets 290, separated by small distances, spanfrom a first outer diameter location across the diameter of the face ofthe first rotating water-entanglement plate 250 and/or second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 260 to an opposite second outer diameterlocation.

According to various embodiments, the first loose feed 215 of helicalfabric may be input to the gap 255 between first rotatingwater-entanglement plate 250 and second rotating water-entanglementplate 260. The first loose feed 215 of helical fabric may be secured toa portion of the first rotating water-entanglement plate 250 or thesecond rotating water-entanglement plate 260 by any desired attachmentmechanism. For instance, the first loose feed 215 of helical fabric maybe retained in the gap by guide plates wrapped around the circumferenceof the water-jet needling plates, and/or motive force supplied by firstrotating water-entanglement plate 250 and/or the second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 260.

According to various embodiments, the first loose feed 215 of helicalfabric may be pulled into the gap 255 bounded by the first rotatingwater-entanglement plate 250 and the second rotating water-entanglementplate 260, such as through a slot, due to friction caused throughcontact with at least one of first rotating water-entanglement plate 250and/or the second rotating water-entanglement plate 260. Gap 255 mayincrease as the layers of the preform increase. In this way, the forceof the jets of water and/or surfaces of the first rotatingwater-entanglement plate 250 and/or the second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 260 may hold the preform in position while itis being formed and/or water entangled.

According to various embodiments, the second loose feed 235 of helicalfabric may be input to the gap 255 between the first rotatingwater-entanglement plate 250 and the second rotating water-entanglementplate 260. The second loose feed 235 of helical fabric may be secured byany desired attachment mechanism. For instance, the second loose feed235 of helical fabric may be retained in the gap 255 by guide plateswrapped around the circumference of the water-jet needling plates,and/or motive force supplied by first rotating water-entanglement plate250 and/or the second rotating water-entanglement plate 260.

According to various embodiments, the second loose feed 235 of helicalfabric may be pulled into the gap 255 bounded by first rotatingwater-entanglement plate 250 and the second rotating water-entanglementplate 260 due to friction caused through contact with at least one offirst rotating water-entanglement plate 250 and/or the second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 260.

The first loose feed 215 of helical fabric and/or second loose feed 235of helical fabric may form layers of an annular preform formed aroundaxis B-B′. Axis B-B′ may be directed in the Z direction. As additionalhelical fabric is input between the first rotating water-entanglementplate 250 and the second rotating water-entanglement plate 260, such asinto gap 255, the annular preform may grow in concentric annular layersin both the positive and negative Z direction. The distance betweenfirst rotating water-entanglement plate 250 and the second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 260 will increase in concert with theadditional layers of the annular preform being formed.

According to various embodiments, as additional helical fabric is inputbetween the first rotating water-entanglement plate 250 and the secondrotating water-entanglement plate 260 and the annular preform grows inthe positive and negative Z directions, water-entanglement via waterjets, such as water jets 290, may occur to the top most and/or bottommost layer of the annular preform. Stated another way, the firstrotating water-entanglement plate 250 and the second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 260 may inject a stream of fluid, such aswater, into the top and bottom surface, respectively, of the growingannular preform as it is being formed (e.g., growing layer by layer inthe positive and negative Z directions). The water jet 290 “needling”may be configured to interconnect the horizontal fibers of layers of thepreform with a third direction (the Z direction). As stated above, thefibers extending into the third direction are also called z-fibers. This“needling” process may involve configuring jets of high pressure waterto displace a portion of the horizontal fibers of layers of preform intothe z-direction and thus interconnect and/or entangle layers of thepreform. In various embodiments, the water jets 290 produce a highvelocity stream of high pressure water in a range of 0 to 10,000 psi (0to 68.95 MPa) and, in various embodiments, of 500 psi (3.45 MPa) to5,000 psi (34.5 MPa). This may result in less mechanical damage to thepreform layers as compared with a needling process using barbed needles.Of course, though referred to as a “needling” process, no needles areinvolved in a water entanglement process.

In response to the preform being fully formed and/or water entangled,the distance between the first rotating water-entanglement plate 250 andthe second rotating water-entanglement plate 260 may be increased andthe preform may be removed from proximity to first rotatingwater-entanglement plate 250 and the second rotating water-entanglementplate 260. Excess fabric, either on the outer diameter or inner diameterof the preform, may be removed.

According to various embodiments and with reference to FIG. 3, a system300 is configured to facilitate water-entanglement via water jets, suchas water jets 330 of a first rotating water-entanglement plate 310 andwater jets 380 of a second rotating water-entanglement plate 340, of agrowing preform 360 in multiple directions such as from a top surfaceand a bottom surface (in the Z direction). In this way, needlingutilizing jets of water may be performed on a growing preform 360 as itis expanding in the Z direction. The first rotating water-entanglementplate 310 and the second rotating water-entanglement plate 340 may beentirely contained within a housing 350. A first loose feed 315 ofhelical fabric may be fed from a spool 331 into the gap 355 bounded byfirst rotating water-entanglement plate 310 and the second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 340. A second loose feed 335 of helical fabricmay be fed from a spool 375 into the gap 355 bounded by first rotatingwater-entanglement plate 310 and the second rotating water-entanglementplate 340. First loose feed 315 of helical fabric and second loose feed335 of helical fabric may be contained within housing 350. Variousguides and/or chutes may assist with the orientation of first loose feed315 of helical fabric and/or second loose feed 335 of helical fabricwithin system 300. In this way, layers of an annular preform may beformed concentrically around axis C-C′. As the preform expands in widthin the positive and negative Z directions, water jets 330 and water jets380 distributed radially on the surface of first rotatingwater-entanglement plate 310 and the second rotating water-entanglementplate 340, respectively, may be configured to water entangle, andeffectively “needle,” the layers of the preform. Water jets 330 andwater jets 380 may substantially cover the surface 345 of first rotatingwater-entanglement plate 310 and the surface 385 the second rotatingwater-entanglement plate 340 with minimal spacing, such as between 2 to10 water jet diameters, between each water jet 330 and water jet 380.

The housing 350 may limit particulate resultant from awater-entanglement (e.g., needling process using water jets fed from awater source) from undesirable interactions. According to variousembodiments, a negative pressure, such as via suction 370, may causeairborne particulate to be removed from within housing 350.

Referring to FIG. 4, a water-entanglement process 401 may be initiatedby feeding a substantially continuous spiral fabric (step 400) to aspace defined by a first rotatable surface comprising a first water jetand a second rotatable surface comprising a second water jet. In variousembodiments, a reduced manufacturing cycle time may be achieved by thegrowing of a preform based on the feed (step 405) of substantiallycontinuous spiral fabric. Water is imparted to a surface of a preform(step 410) from at least one of the first water jet or the second waterjet, wherein the water entangles the preform.

In various embodiments, the water-entanglement process may includereceiving the continuous spiral fabric from a first fabric source and asecond fabric source. Each of the first and second fabric sources may bea carbon fiber spiral manufacturing source and/or a helical fabricmanufacturing source. In various embodiments, the water is fed duringthe formation of the preform and the water entangles the preform insitu.

Additionally, benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems havebeen described herein with regard to various embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the invention. The scope of the invention isaccordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, inwhich reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean“one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one ormore.” Moreover, where a phrase similar to “at least one of A, B, and C”or “at least one of A, B, or C” is used in the claims or specification,it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone maybe present in an embodiment, B alone may be present in an embodiment, Calone may be present in an embodiment, or that any combination of theelements A, B and C may be present in a single embodiment; for example,A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C.

As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include pluralreferents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. As used herein,the terms “for example,” “for instance,” “such as,” or “including” aremeant to introduce examples that further clarify more general subjectmatter. Unless otherwise specified, these examples are embodiments ofthe present disclosure, and are not meant to be limiting in any fashion.

Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the presentdisclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless ofwhether the element, component, or method step is explicitly recited inthe claims. No claim element herein is to be construed under theprovisions of 35 U.S.C. 112(f), unless the element is expressly recitedusing the phrase “means for.” As used herein, the terms “comprises”,“comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover anon-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, orapparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus.

What is claimed is:
 1. A water-entanglement system comprising: a firstrotatable surface, wherein the first rotatable surface comprises a firstwater jet configured to water entangle a preform in situ; and a secondrotatable surface disposed proximate the first rotatable surface,wherein the second rotatable surface comprises a second water jetconfigured to water entangle the preform in situ, wherein the firstrotatable surface is oriented substantially parallel to the secondrotatable surface, and wherein the first water jet is oriented towardsthe second rotatable surface and wherein the second water jet isoriented towards the first rotatable surface, the first rotatablesurface and the second rotatable surface bound a gap so that the gap isconfigured to increase as the preform expands in at least one of apositive Z direction or a negative Z direction.
 2. Thewater-entanglement system of claim 1, wherein the first rotatablesurface and the second rotatable surface are configured to rotate abouta common axis substantially in unison.
 3. The water-entanglement systemof claim 1, wherein the preform is an annular preform comprising of aplurality of layers.
 4. The water-entanglement system of claim 1,further comprising a first fabric source and a second fabric source. 5.The water-entanglement system of claim 4, wherein a first fabric fromthe first fabric source and a second fabric from the second fabricsource are combined to form the preform.
 6. A water-entanglement systemcomprising: a housing; a first rotatable surface disposed within thehousing, wherein the first rotatable surface comprises a first water jetconfigured to water entangle a preform in situ; and a second rotatablesurface disposed within the housing proximate the first rotatablesurface, wherein the second rotatable surface comprises a second waterjet configured to water entangle the preform in situ, wherein the firstrotatable surface is oriented substantially parallel to the secondrotatable surface, and wherein the first water jet is oriented towardsthe second rotatable surface and wherein the second water jet isoriented towards the first rotatable surface, the first rotatablesurface and the second rotatable surface bound a gap formed between thefirst rotatable surface and the second rotatable surface so that the gapis configured to increase as the preform expands in at least one of apositive Z direction or a negative Z direction.
 7. Thewater-entanglement system of claim 6, wherein the first rotatablesurface and the second rotatable surface are configured to rotate abouta common axis substantially in unison.
 8. The water-entanglement systemof claim 6, further comprising a first fabric source and a second fabricsource, wherein a first fabric from the first fabric source and a secondfabric from the second fabric source are combined to form the preform.